Judges’ appointment overdue

THE alleged indifference on the part of the federal government towards the long due appointment of judges in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir High Court is worrying for the people of the state, as it is multiplying their problems. Simultaneously, it provides an opportunity to many to question the federal government’s interest in the pending affairs of Azad Kashmir.

Appointment in the Supreme Court and the High Court of Azad Kashmir is a matter within the competence of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council. Practically it is in the competence of the federal government because the chief executive of Pakistan is the chairman and the federal minister for Kashmir and Northern Areas affairs is minister-in-charge of the AJK Council.

According to the AJK interim constitution, the appointment of a judge in the Supreme Court is made by the AJK president on the advice of the (chairman) of the AJK Council and after consultation with the chief justice of Azad Kashmir. And if a judge is to be appointed in the High Court, the HC chief justice is also consulted.

As a matter of practice, the AJK president sends a panel of some names, after consultation with the two chief justices, to the AJK Council chairman for his advice for appointment against vacant post(s). After the advice from Islamabad is received in Muzaffarabad, the president directs it to the law department for issuance of the appointment notification. In October 2000, the post of a judge fell vacant in the High Court following the retirement of Justice Mohammad Siddique Farooqi.

The then AJK president, Sardar Mohammad Ibrahim Khan, reportedly sent a panel to the Council chairman within a month for his advice for appointment against the vacant post. It was believed that the chairman would recommend a name from that panel at the earliest so that the post could be filled for the convenience of the public. But that did not happen for reasons best known to the Council secretariat, until another post became vacant in the High Court on May 4, 2001, with the elevation of the then CJ, Justice Khwaja Mohammad Saeed, to the Supreme Court. Eight months have elapsed since then, there is no progress regarding the much-needed appointments in the HC.

Here, it would be appropriate to mention that there was more or less a similar occurrence in the Supreme Court. Perhaps this may help the readers to know how much “importance” the AJK Council — for all practical purposes the federal government — attaches to the AJK affairs. On Nov 28, 2000, Justice Basharat Ahmed Sheikh of the Supreme Court retired. The interim constitution of Azad Kashmir says: “There shall be a Supreme Court comprising a chief justice and two judges.”

In view of this constitutional provision, the successor of Mr Sheikh should have been nominated much earlier and taken the oath on the very day of his retirement (Nov 28). But the constitution was overlooked, rather violated. The AJK Supreme Court remained incomplete until the elevation of Justice Saeed, because during that period there was only one judge in the apex court other than the CJ. One finds it difficult to reject the viewpoint that the Supreme Court did not exist in Azad Kashmir from Nov 28 to May 4.

Anyhow, let’s go back to the High Court affair. According to powers vested by the constitution, the AJK legislative assembly under Courts and Laws Code has provided that there shall be a chief justice and three or more judges in the High Court. But, currently there are only three judges in the HC — Chief Justice Syed Manzoor Hussain Gillani, Justice Chaudhry Mohammad Taj and Justice Reaz Akhtar Chaudhry. Being human beings the judges can also fall ill or have personal engagements that require them to go on leave. For example, Justice Taj has recently obtained leave for performance of Haj, leaving behind only two judges to perform the functions. The absence of Justice Taj has resulted in dissolution of a bench hearing appeals agains